3D Printing and Choice of Plastics

There is a lot to learn about CAD and 3D printing and we found many resources online during last season.  This Summer we found a great practical review of four different types of plastic available for use in common 3D printers done by Thomas Sanladerer.  In the video above, he compares PLA, Nylon, ABS, and Formlabs' SLA.  The results are rather surprising.  Our take-away message is that PLA is the main "go to" plastic for most jobs but if we need something with better adhesion between layers then Nylon is the better alternative.  Given that PLA is cheap, and the brand we found that works flawlessly with out printer is among the least expensive, it really is a great choice for most applications in our experience.  We bought a new head for our 3D printer to start experimenting with Nylon this summer and can see several applications in the future in which Nylon may prove to be a better choice over PLA.